《 sgt entry 》 Hi there! Congrats to everyone who made it to the judges cuts. Here's my two-part submission, art and a story. Story . Marcellus sneered and turned. His heeled boots clacked as he marched away, head held high. Those black-magic devils didn't deserve anything, they were corrupt and twisted. Behind him, someone blocked the light from the window. Quietly closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before turning on his heel to face them. "What?" He snapped. His bright blue eyes were narrow so he could just make out the traitor Svyn standing backlit in front of the window, casting everything into shadow. Svyn glared at him. "What is wrong with you, Marcellus?" Marcellus laughed, but it was ingenuous. "What's wrong with me? With ME? Have you looked at yourself, Svyn? Death follows you like a plague, you and the rest of you filthy, horrid Necromancers. Your wretched magic is the reason we're all in danger here. You made the choice to force the dead-" "Choice?" It was Halor who spoke this time, his prematurely grey hair falling in his eyes. "I don't remember any of us ever getting a choice. Do enlighten us when we would have gotten to choose, was it when the elders drew our names? Or when they branded us?" Rage billowed up inside Marcellus. They had it all wrong. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see Lycidas standing behind him, concern reflected in his face. "We were chosen for our guilds because of who we are." "We were chosen randomly by lot! We were forced to be this way, and we hate it!" Svyn yelled. He had a glint of fire in his steely eyes. "It's not our fault, and yet everyone despises and shuns us." The injustice of it forced Marcellus into motion. He crossed the hall quickly until his face was barely an inch from Svyn's. Halor stepped forward and tried to push them apart, whispering something to Svyn. "You reanimate the dead and force them unwillingly to do your bidding. You are disgraceful and you disgust me." He said this so low no one else would have heard, but Svyn's face hardened. In a flash of movement, Svyn pulled a long white bone from inside his cloak. The boy began to chant as Marcellus backed away from him. The bone started to glow faintly and Halor stepped in front of Svyn, talking frantically to him. "No, no, Svyn, this isn't the right thing to do. It won't fix anything! Stop, don't do this! It's not going to solve the problem-" "Oh, yeah, it will, Hale. Let's end this," Marcellus said calmly, then he broke into a yell. "Right here, right now!" The crystal at the tip of his staff exploded into bright gold light that lit the whole hall. It contrasted harshly with the dark purple flames wreathing the bone still held in Svyn's cold, scarred hands. The air was fraught with magic as they faced each other. 《 credits 》 . art . me . code . me . story . me . audio . Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer . characters . Marcellus and his summoned form, Svyn, Halor, Lycidas, who are mine
